Flora

Melzi was Leonardo da Vinci's favourite pupil who followed the
master to France, remaining with him to the end of his life.
Melzi's paintings are rarely found in the world museums. In style
the Flora recalls the works of Leonardo, with the same soft
sfumato used to model forms, the same elegant restraint to the
colour, that soft half-smile on the lips of the sitter.

In Classical mythology Flora was the wife of Zephyr, the west
wind of springtime, and mother of all the plants. It is she who
feeds and brings life, and thus is shown with naked breasts. The
stones of the mysterious grotto in which Flora is placed are
covered with various grasses and flowers. With a gracious turn of
the head she is looking at a columbine or aquilegia, symbol of
fertility.

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